A fluoroalkyl ether is a compound which has attracted attention in recent years as a substitute for a chlorofluorocarbon which used to be employed as freon. It has a short life in the atmosphere and has no chlorine atom, and it thus is characterized in that it presents little adverse effect to the global environment such as ozone depletion or global warming.
With respect to a method for preparing a fluoroalkyl ether, various methods have been reported. As a method for the preparation in an industrial scale, an addition reaction of a fluoroalkyl alcohol with a fluorinated olefin in the presence of an alkali, is known (U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,294). However, this reaction requires a relatively high temperature and a high reaction pressure, and the reaction rate is extremely low.
As a method to improve over such problems, a method of reacting a fluoroalkyl alcohol with a fluorinated olefin in a solvent, has been reported (claims and Examples in JP-A-9-263559). However, also in this method, the reaction rate is not adequate, and particularly in a batch system reaction as disclosed in the Examples, the rate in the initial stage of the reaction is very low, and there has been a problem that no adequate efficiency can be obtained for the practical production.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient method for producing a fluoroalkyl ether, whereby the reaction rate is high, and the production in an industrial scale is possible.